The Tampa Bay Lightning are an American professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). Often referred to as the Bolts, [1] the team joined the NHL in 1992 as an expansion team, and have won the Stanley Cup championship in 2004, 2020 and 2021. [2] Having first played in the Expo Hall, [3] and later in the ThunderDome (now known as Tropicana Field), [4] the Lightning have played their home games at the Ice Palace, currently titled Amalie Arena, since 1996. The Lightning are owned by Jeffrey Vinik, Julien BriseBois is their general manager, and Steven Stamkos is the team captain.
There have been nine head coaches for the Lightning franchise. The team's first head coach was Terry Crisp, who coached for five seasons. John Tortorella, the only American to head coach the team, was the first Lightning coach to have won the Prince of Wales Trophy, [5] the Stanley Cup, [2] and to have been awarded the Jack Adams Award, all of which happened in the 2003–04 season. Steve Ludzik and Jon Cooper are the only two head coaches who have spent their entire NHL head coaching careers with the Lightning.
Jon Cooper is the team's current head coach, having been named to the position on March 25, 2013. [6] Cooper is the only head coach of the Lightning to win the Prince of Wales Trophy four times. [7] Under Cooper, the franchise won its second Stanley Cup championship in 2020 and third championship in 2021. Cooper is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season wins (480), playoff games coached (139), and the most playoff-games won (84).
# | Number of coaches [a] |
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins = 2 points |
L | Losses = 0 points |
T | Ties = 1 point |
OT | Overtime/shootout losses = 1 point [b] |
PTS | Points |
Win% | Winning percentage |
* | Spent entire NHL head coaching career with the Lightning |
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2022–23 NHL regular season.
# | Name | Term [c] | Regular season | Playoffs | Achievements | Reference | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GC | W | L | T/OT | PTS | PTS% | GC | W | L | Win% | |||||
1 | Terry Crisp | 1992–1998 | 391 | 142 | 204 | 45 | 329 | .421 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | [8] | |
2 | Rick Paterson* | 1998 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [9] | |
3 | Jacques Demers | 1998–1999 | 147 | 34 | 96 | 17 | 85 | .289 | — | — | — | — | [10] | |
4 | Steve Ludzik* | 1999–2001 | 121 | 31 | 67 | 23 | 85 | .351 | — | — | — | — | [11] | |
5 | John Tortorella | 2001–2008 | 535 | 239 | 222 | 74 | 552 | .516 | 45 | 24 | 21 | .533 | Stanley Cup championship: 2004 [2] Jack Adams Award winner: 2003–04 [12] Prince of Wales Trophy winner: 2004 [5] | [13] |
6 | Barry Melrose | 2008 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 14 | .438 | — | — | — | — | [14] | |
7 | Rick Tocchet | 2008–2010 | 148 | 53 | 69 | 26 | 132 | .446 | — | — | — | — | [15] | |
8 | Guy Boucher | 2010–2013 | 196 | 97 | 79 | 20 | 214 | .546 | 18 | 11 | 7 | .611 | [16] | |
9 | Jon Cooper* | 2013–present | 797 | 480 | 250 | 67 | 1,027 | .644 | 145 | 86 | 59 | .593 | NHL All-Star Game: 2018, 2019 [17] [18] Presidents' Trophy winner: 2018–19 [19] Stanley Cup championship: 2020, 2021 Prince of Wales Trophy winner: 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022 [20] | [21] |
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Amalie Arena in Downtown Tampa.
Vincent "Vinny" Lecavalier is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who is currently a special advisor of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens. Lecavalier played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1998 and 2016. He was the captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2000–2001 season and again from 2008–2013 and spent his first 14 NHL seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning before being bought out following the 2012–13 season and signing with the Philadelphia Flyers for $22.5 million over 5 years. He was chosen first overall by the Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and was a member of their 2004 Stanley Cup championship team. He won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy in 2007 as the NHL's leading goal scorer. On February 10, 2018, the Tampa Bay Lightning retired his number 4 jersey.
John Francis Tortorella is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He serves as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Tortorella was previously the head coach of the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Vancouver Canucks. He led Tampa Bay to the 2004 Stanley Cup championship.
The Prince of Wales Trophy, also known as the Wales Trophy, is a team award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL). Named for Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, it has been awarded for different accomplishments throughout its history.
The National Hockey League (NHL) Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and Western Conference championship series of the NHL. The Conference Finals are each a best-of-seven series, and comprise the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The two series are played in mid-to-late May. The winners of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals receive the Prince of Wales Trophy and Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, respectively, and advance to face each other in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Stephen Paul Ludzik is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach who has worked as a television analyst for The Score television network. He played in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres between 1981 and 1990. He later coached the Tampa Bay Lightning between 1999 and 2001, and also spent several years coaching in the minor leagues.
The 2000–01 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the Lightning's ninth season of operation. The club again failed to make the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
Jonathan D. Cooper is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey coach who is the head coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Cooper won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 as the Lightning head coach, and is currently the longest-tenured coach in the NHL.
Julien BriseBois is a Canadian ice hockey executive. He is the general manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League (NHL) and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.
Adam Dennis Erne is an American professional ice hockey winger for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the second round, 33rd overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.